Life and Learning Educators promote ‘Vision,’ thank community members for collaborating with students

By Shawn p. SullivanSanford News Editor

Thursday

Nov 29, 2012 at 3:15 AM

SANFORD — Sanford High School student Amanda Beaulieu is having quite an academic year.

She has gotten sprayed by a skunk.

She has crawled into cramped quarters to retrieve a feral cat.

She has had all sorts of experiences trying to help the furry four-legged friends who surround us, and they’re all helping her earn credits toward graduating high school. If you have a hunch that these experiences are taking place outside the classroom, then you’re definitely on to something. Sure enough, Beaulieu is enrolled in what the Sanford School Department calls an Extended Learning Opportunity (ELO), an arrangement in which students are paired with members of the community for the purpose of gaining real-world experience that will count toward their credits for graduation. She is one of many SHS students who are taking advantage of this new program, which is coordinated by Pam Cote, of the Sanford School Department.

Since this past summer, Beaulieu has teamed up with Sanford Animal Control Officer Lauren Masellas and has learned the daily routines and responsibilities of helping local animals and enforcing laws related to them. Perhaps you have seen Beaulieu’s monthly column about animals here in the Sanford News — her latest one appears inside this issue. During this school year, Beaulieu is filling in for Masellas, whose guest columns, “Things You Should Know! From your ACO,” appear regularly in the Sanford News. Beaulieu’s English teacher, Sandy Thompson, helps her develop and edit the columns before submitting them to the newspaper for publication.

That’s an ELO in a nutshell: Cote, a student, a teacher and a member of the community work together to provide real-life lessons to help the student earn credits and, more importantly, prepare them for the world that awaits them after graduation. The program, which started a couple of years ago, is made possible through funds from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

On Tuesday morning, Beaulieu stood before a room filled with local educators, businesspeople and town officials at the Sanford Town Club and spoke of her ELO experiences thus far. She said the ELO helps her combine her education with her love of animals; indeed, in addition to her work alongside Masellas, she also has helped out at a local veterinary clinic.

“It’s opening doors for me,” she said about the ELO program.

Masellas and Thompson joined Beaulieu at the podium. Masellas described her apprentice as attentive and as taking the lead on her own education.

Thompson said she has seen Beaulieu grow as a student, a writer and a person during her ELO.

“She’s going to be able to take this with her well outside the classroom,” Thompson said.

Cote and Superintendent of Schools David Theoharides welcomed the crowd to the Town Club on Tuesday morning to thank them for participating in the ELO program and to promote the school department’s vision for student-centered and proficiency-based learning. Under proficiency-based learning, students will no longer take a test, only to move on whether they pass or fail; instead, students who have mastered a subject and are ready for a new challenge will advance, while those who may need more time will be afforded it.

A few years ago, the school department established a committee comprised of local educators and volunteers throughout the community and charged it with developing a vision for Sanford education for the new century. The committee met a few times and crafted a vision in which all students learn according to their own pace and abilities. The school department and the Sanford School Committee have been pursuing the vision ever since.

The ELOs are a part of this effort. Currently, there are a dozen ELOs under way in the community.

“We want ELOs to be a win-win,” Cote said, referring to both students and community members.

Theoharides also referred to another program, “Enrichment Thursdays,” in which teachers spend some time in the morning working together to develop and evaluate curriculum, learn and practice new skills, and share ideas. During this time, students are engaged in leadership training, extracurricular activities, tutoring and homework.

Theoharides acknowledged that some teachers have not been as quick as others to embrace what the department is formally calling “Sanford Vision: Learning for Life.”

“Is there resistance? Yes,” he said. “It’s change. It’s hard.”

But he also said teachers are working together to find efficient and creative ways to meet students’ needs. And he encouraged those gathered to spread the word about ELOs to friends and colleagues who may want their businesses to offer them for students.

Theoharides said that students these days need to learn about more than reading, writing and arithmetic. Surveys of local business owners revealed that students need to know how to communicate, solve problems and analyze data if they are to succeed in today’s world. That means conventional classrooms are no longer enough, Theoharides said.

“We needed to remodel education,” he said of the visioning that began a few years ago. “The world’s changing. There are more things that we need to know.”

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